Reasoned Opinion on European Parliament electoral reform recommended by Committee

27 January 2016

The EU Justice Sub-Committee today publishes a report recommending the House of Lords issues a Reasoned Opinion objecting, on subsidiarity grounds, to the European Parliament's proposed Council Decision reforming the EU's electoral law.

Background

In November 2015 the European Parliament agreed a proposed Decision reforming the EU's electoral law. The proposal, which has been sent to the Council for consideration, suggests a number of reforms and amendments to the existing EU legislation governing European elections.

The Sub-Committee's report raises subsidiarity concerns with two of the proposed reforms:

The imposition of a gender balance requirement on the candidate lists for election to the European Parliament

The extension of EU citizens' voting rights to those resident in non-EU Member States.

In addition to concerns about these proposed reforms, the European Parliament has also failed, as required by the Treaties, to justify its proposal on subsidiarity grounds. This omission constitutes a failure by the European Parliament to abide by a clear procedural requirement imposed by the Treaties.

Debate

The report, which recommends the House issues a subsidiarity Reasoned Opinion, will be debated in the House next week before the deadline expires.